Answer

879730 Pop Quiz: Why do you Suppose we Avoid Tests?

The thought that tests and exam time is dawning on students brings a cringe to anyone. If it were up to me, I would avoid exams altogether for fear of failure, how tests judge individuals, and the attitude it brings out in people.

            Most importantly, why people avoid tests is the fear of failure. The fear that one may fail a test brings about examination anxiety. Therefore, people will opt to avoid tests not to feel that they wasted their time learning something and graded as a failure.

Secondly, people avoid tests because of how tests are a way of judging people. Tests as a culmination to examining what one has learned over a period will include very few questions that should explore one’s knowledge of various topics learned over time. This is not a fun way of implementing knowledge and grading someone for the next level. Therefore, the thought that one will sit in a classroom, for example, and attempt to answer a series of questions over a 40-minute period where the questions cover at least 20 topics learned throughout the year is judgemental in itself, resulting in panic and examination anxiety. 

Lastly, I believe that people avoid tests because of the attitude that tests bring about in people. Regardless of the competitive nature of being the best at a test, I have noticed that people become time-wasters around examination periods. Through the academic year, I have seen students become good time managers until the exam period where a monster awakens, and students can be seen scampering into libraries and classrooms to have a final reading. Most students’ days become unproductive with re-reading for exams.

Tests should be avoided, and new ways implemented to help appreciate an individual’s time in learning.